Push button tuning device



"0 'g.14, 1941. y H, Z R 2,259,051

PUSH BUTTON TUNING DE-VICE Original Filed Feb. 24, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet l I I I.

3nventor I Gttornegs.

Oct. 14, 1941. H. J. TYziER PUSH BUTTON TUNING DEVICE Original Filed Feb. -24, 1938 2' Sheets-Sheet 2 m 3 m a f 6 5 5 0 m 5 W 5 /A.i! L U 4 5 2v 0 W 0 o W. 5 1 8 4 1 4 5 1/ Gttomegs. v

Patented Oct. 14, 1941 rvsn BUTTON TUNING DEVICE Howard J. Tylzer, Cincinnati, Ohio, assignorto The Crosley Corporation, Cincinnati, Ohio, a

corporation of Ohio Original application February 24, 1938, Serial No.

Divided and this application August 24, 1938, Serial No. 226,520

2 Claims.

This application is a'division of my co-pending application, Serial No. 192,258, filed February 24, 1938, and entitled 9. Push button tuning device.

My invention relates to what may be termed semi-automatic tuning devices for radio sets and the like. The popularity of means for effecting the rapid tuning of radio sets to certain preselected stations appears to be on the increase.

A number of different types of tuning devices have been developed, including those operated by electric motors; but mechanical systems are in general less expensive to construct. My invention relates to a particular mechanical system; and it has for its objects the provision of an organization in which tuning is effected by the actuation of push buttons, in which the space requirements are very small and in which the apparatus is simple and easy to construct, inexpensive and not liable to get out of repair.

Since modern day radio sets are of the superheterodyne type, they require by reason of their selectivity, extremely accurate tuning. It is therefore my object to provide a mechanical organization capable of giving this extremely accurate tuning; but it is further my object to provide a structure and arrangement of parts wherein this accuracy is secured without the necessity of extremeaccuracy in the manufacture of the several parts of the apparatus. As a consequence of this, the device of my invention is characterized by a smaller cost than has hitherto characterized mechanical tuning devices.

These and other objects of my invention which will be set forth hereinafter or will be apparent to one skilled in the art upon reading these specifications, I accomplish by that certain construction and arrangement of parts of which I shall hereinafter describe certain preferred embodiments. Reference may now be made to the drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is an elevational view, with parts broken away, of one form of my device.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken alongthe lines 2-! of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken along the lines 3-! of Fig. 2. I

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a locking member employed with the push button assembly of the foregoing figures.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the assembly of Fig. 1.

Figs. 6 and '1 are respectively plan and elevational views of another type of plunger assembly which may be employed in the device of Figs. 1 and 5.

Fig. 8 is a vertical section through another embodiment of my apparatus.

Fig. 9 is a plunger assembly suitable for use with the embodiment of Fig. 8. p

Briefly, in the practice of my invention, I provide a pivoted plate adapted to swing about a longitudinal axis. .This plate is connected by a suitable drive to the shaft of a gang condenser or other tuning means in the radio set. I provide also a plurality of push buttons having plungers to guide their movements, and in connection with these push buttons I provide means on the plungers to determine the position ofthe plate when the push buttons are depressed. In this way the actuation of any particular push button will cause the plate to assume a position'peculiar to that button, and as a consequence, the shaft of the gang condenser will be rotated to a predetermined setting very accurately.

In the embodiment of Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 5, I have shown an organization of apparatus wherein if the series of push buttons is located at the front of the radio set, the axis of the gang condenser is parallel to the front of the radio cabinet. In the embodiment of Fig. 8, I haveshown a style of apparatus wherein under the same conditions, the shaft ofthegang condenser is normal to the front of the radio cabinet. It will be understood that modifications may be made in my apparatus without departing from the spirit of my invention, and in particular the different types of drives between the plate to which I have referred and the gang condenser shaft, or other tuning device, may be varied, if desired. By way of a single example, but without limitation, if it is desired to use the apparatus of Figs. 1 and 5 in a radio set in which the gang condenser shaft is normal to the front of the cabinet, it will be within the skill of the worker in the art tc interpose between the driven gear and the condenser shaft,

8. pair of beveled gears or the like, so that they condenser shaft can be located as desired.

In the embodiment of Figs. 1 to 5, I have illustrated a casing l, in which the apparatus is mounted. This casing is preferably, though not necessarily located below the gang condenser l of the radio set. In the casing upon suitable pivots 5 and 8 I mount a plate I. As I have indicated, a suitable drive is established between this plate and the condenser gang shaft 8. In the particular embodiment illustrated in these figures, a gear segment 9 is fastened to the plate so that the toothed edge is concentric with the pivot point of the plate. A meshing gear HI is fastened to the gang condenser drive shaft. In order to take up lost motion, this gear may comprise two mating parts, one of which is fastened to the shaft 3, and the other of which is slightly rotatable on the shaft and is actuated by a spring. A gear arrangement of this type iswell known in the art and has been illustrated by me in Figs. 2 and but it does not require special description.

In the particular embodiment which I am now describing, a shaft H is mounted above the easing I on suitable bearing brackets and is the manual tuning shaft for the radio set. A sheave |'2,is non-rotatably fastened to the plate, so as to rotate it about the pivots 5 and 8. A belt I3 is looped over this sleeve and at its ends is wound in opposite directions about the shaft II, and fastened to this shaft. A tuning knob I4 may be fastened to the shaft II where it projects beyond the front rim of the radio cabinet, indicated in Fig. 2 at I5. A longitudinal indicator has beenillustrated in Figs. 1 and 2. Here a sheave I3 is fastened to the condenser gang shaft 3. An endless belt I1 is looped about the sheave I6, passes over small sheaves I8 and I3 and is carried horizontally above the gang condenser and parallel with the front I5 of the radio cabinet, returning over a small sheave 20. A pointer 2| is fastened to this belt and moves over a scale or dial 22.

It will be evident from the construction thus far described that the radio set may be tuned by means of the knob I4, but that it mayalso be tuned by anything which tends to rotate the plate I about its pivots. When the plate I is moved to tune the. radio set, the shaft II is rotated thereby; but the shaft I is an insignificant frictional load.

For moving the plate for automatic tuning I provide a series of plungers. Each plunger has an enlarged body portion 23 which is slidably mounted in a slot 24 in the front member of the casing I. The plunger also has a tall 25 which is slidably mounted in a slot 26 in the back wall of the casing I. In order to limit the forward movement of the plunger assembly, a cotter pin or the like 21, may be passed through the hole in the tail of the plunger beyond the back wall of the casing. Each plunger likewise has a forwardly extending portion 23 upon which push buttons 23 may be placed. The push buttons are marked, or are so constructed that they may be provided with indicia showing the particular station to which each push button will be effective in tuning the radio set. The tall 25 of each push button passes through a perforation 23 in the plate I, the perforation being large enough to permit rotation of the plate through the desired are without interference from the tail.

So that each push button may, when depressed, bring about a desired angularity of the plate I, I pivot to each plunger body, as at 30, an

- arm 3 I. At each end of this arm there is a slight protuberance, as illustrated, and it will be evident that if the arm is fastened to the plunger body with a certain angular relationship, and if the push button is depressed so as to bring the arm 3| against the plate I, the arm will be effective in causing the plate 'I to assume the same angularity. I provide means for locking the several arms in the desired angular relationships. To this end, I prefer to strike up from the body 23 two lugs 32 and 33. and to thread a set screw 34 into these lugs. A locking member illustrated in Fig. 4 comprises two angularly related portions 35 and 36. The portion 33 is slotted as at 31, so that it will pass over the lug 32 and be held in place by the set screw 34. The portion 33 also has a small perforation 33. These parts are assembled as most clearly shown in Figs. 3 and 4. The semi-circular part 33 on the forward portion of the arm 3| underlies the locking member 35-36. When the set screw 34 is tightened, the end of it bears against the portion 33 of the looking member, so as to depress this portion against the portion'3i of the arm. This binds the arm tightly against the body 23 and fixes its angular position. A tension spring 40 may be engaged between the perforation 33 in the locking member and a perforation 4| in the front wall of the casing I. This spring keeps the plunger assemblies in the forward position. The slot 24 in the front wall of the casing I is enlarged sidewise;as shown at 42 in Fig. 1, so as to pass the lugs 32 and 33.

When it is desired to set up the apparatus for automatic tuning, a particular one of the push buttons is selected as appropriate for aselected station. The set screw 34 is loosened. The radio set is tuned to the selected station, and while maintaining this tuning the operator depresses the appropriate plunger. Since the arm 3| is now loosely pivoted upon the body 23, the plate I will cause it to assume a particular angular position on the plunger. When this position is attained the set screw 34 is tightened up to'bend the arm; and the'plunger is released. Thereafter, whenever the same plunger is depressed, and whatever may be the initial position of the plate I, the plate will be brought to an angular position determined by the fixed position of the arm 3|; and the radio set will thereby be tuned to the selected station. Similar procedures for other stations are followed with the other push buttons in the assembly. The number of push buttons provided does not constitute a limitation upon my invention.

I have shown in Figs. 6 and 7 a modified form of plunger in which I have given to like parts like index numerals. In this particular form, the arm 3| is pivotedas at 33, between the body portion 23a and a piece of sheet metal 43 which is interspaced from'the body 230. as shown, except that at the forward end it is bent into a U-shape 44, the base of which is riveted. to the body, 23a at 45. The set screw 34 is threaded in the legs of the U. The end of the set screw bears against a friction member or shoe 43. This shoe is placed between the body 23a andthe member 43 and, as shown; and where it extends beyond these members it is made wider to prevent displacement. The shoe 46 bears against the semicircular portion 33 of .the arm 3| and serves to fix it in position.

I have shown a somewhat different type of organization in Figs. 8 and 9. Here a casing Ia has been provided, the condenser gang 4 being mounted thereabove, as previously described. excepting that the shaft of the gang condenser is normal to the plane of the front wall of the casing Ia, and therefore is normal to the plane of the front of the radio cabinet indicated at Iia. It will be understood that the casing Ia may be the chassis of the radio set. The plate 1a in this instance 'is pivoted to brackets 41. For a driving connection between the plates Ia and the gang condenser shaft 3, I have shown the following: an arm 43 is fixed to the plate la. The condenser shaft is provided with a sheave 43. An endless belt 30 is looped under this sheave, passes over small sheaves 5|v and I2, and is carried backwardly beneath the top wall of the casing Ia to return over a rearward sheave 53. The arm 48 'is fastened to the belt 50, as at 54. It will be clear that the position of the arm 48, by reason of the drive which has been described, will determine the position of the shaft 8. The condenser gang in this instance may have any of the usual forms of manual drive including, if desired, a vernier drive.

To the front portion of the casing la, I fasten a bracket 55. A plunger indicated generally at 56, is slidably mounted in slots 51 and 58 respectively in the front wall of the casing la and in the bracket 55, as clearly shown in Fig. 8. The rear portion of the plunger has a downwardly turned member 5611. Ears 59 and 60 are formed on the plunger 56 and a set screw 6| is threaded in these ears. The end of the set screw is interspaced, as shown, from the plunger projection 56a, and these two parts form, after adjustment, the means for bringing the plate 1a to the desired angular position.

When setting up this apparatus the radio set is again tuned to a selected station by hand and a plunger selected as appropriate to that station. The set screw BI is loosened and the plunger 56 is depressed until its projection 56a bears against the plate la. While maintaining this position of the plunger, the operator next turns the set screw Bl until the end of it also lies against the plate la. The setting is now complete. Thereafter when the plunger is depressed the combined action of the set screw GI and the plunger projection 56a (the one lying above and the other below the pivot points of the plate 10), will be to bring the plate 1a to the angular position previously determined,

As has been indicated hereinabove, wide modifications may be made in my invention without departing from the spirit thereof.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In an automobile tuning device, in combina tion' with a mechanism to be tuned, a member pivoted to swing on an axis, a connection between said member and said mechanism, a plunger longitudinally movable transversely to said axis, and means on said plunger for swinging said member to a determined angular position when said means is brought thereagainst, said means comprising a portion of said plunger for engaging said member at one side of its axis, and adjustable means on said plunger for en- .gaging said member at the other side of its axis.

2. In an automatic tuning device, in combination with a mechanism to be tuned, a member pivoted on one of its axes, a connection between said member and said mechanism, a plunger longitudinally movable transversely to said axis, and means on said plunger for swinging said member to a predetermined angular position when said means is brought thereagainst, said means comprising a portion-of said plunger 01T- set axially for engaging said member at one side of said axis, and a set screw on said plunger for engaging said member at the other side of said axis.

HOWARD J. TYZZER.

CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION. Patent No. 2,259,051. October 114., 19 41.

HOWARD J. TYZZER.

. It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page -2, first column, line 114, for "sleeve" read -sheave--; page 5, second column, line I 9, claim 1, for "automobile" read --automatic--'; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 15thday of January, A. D. 19h2.-

Henry Van Arsdale, (Seal) Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

